


Synchronicity

by Starrie_Wolf



Series: #LoveWins Challenge [7]
Category: Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Coming of Age, F/F, Platonic Soulmates, Rites of Passage, Romantic Soulmates, Soul Bond
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-01
Updated: 2015-09-01
Packaged: 2018-04-18 12:56:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4706786
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starrie_Wolf/pseuds/Starrie_Wolf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's the little things, like having your eyes drawn to her like a magnet when she walks into the room, or remembering every insignificant detail about her, or seeing her shadow everywhere you look. </p><p>Pity no one actually explained to Clary what it means to be <i>parabatai</i>.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Synchronicity

**Author's Note:**

> My muse ended up combining the two Clizzy prompts, hopefully neither of you mind.

The first time the other girl caught her eye, Clary was instantly mesmerised.

She was a vision in a dress of shimmering starlight, the open collar baring the arch of a slender neck, her dark tresses pinned in an artful spill of curls on top of her head. As though she were an angel descended from the heavens, she wove with ethereal grace through the crowd gyrating in the middle of Pandemonium. None even came close to touching her, as though recognising unconsciously the regal air she exuded with each step.

That feeling lasted until Clary saw her kill someone as easily as if she was stepping on an insect.

~*~*~*~*~

Her face was the first thing Clary saw when she woke up in the New York Institute.

She wasn’t proud of the little squeak she let out, or the instinctive jerk backwards, as though her blanket or pillow could protect her from the other girl.

The Shadowhunter girl didn’t seem to care. “Hello Clary, I’m Izzy,” she introduced, holding out her hand. Clary took the proffered hand tentatively, her eyes darting to the serpentine silver whip wrapped around Izzy’s wrist, half expecting it to strike as it did in Pandemonium.

A commotion in the hallway had both of them looking up, and then the dark-haired Shadowhunter boy came bursting through the doors. “Izzy! You know that you aren’t supposed to be in here!”

Izzy huffed and rolled her eyes. “Don’t mind Alec,” she told Clary cryptically, released Clary’s hand, and went to argue with this Alec.

Unnoticed by anyone else, Clary clenched her hand into a fist, hating how cold it felt after the warmth of Izzy’s hand.

~*~*~*~*~

“Well, we’re going to have to cancel your coming-of-age ball, so you don’t need a gown anymore,” Jace pointed out, in what he probably thought was a reasonable tone.

Clary took offence immediately. Maybe it was the little things – Simon wasn’t talking to her, Jace was condescending, Alec was dismissive, and everyone else from the Lightwood parents to the Inquisitor was suspicious of her, just because she had the misfortune to be born to some kind of Shadowhunter supervillain. Only Izzy ever treated her like she was just another person, just Clary.

Maybe it was because they were the only two left out of all the classified adult meetings, other than Max. Clary was starting to have a new sympathy for Harry, being chased out of all those Order of the Phoenix meetings even when they involved events that directly affected him. But why was Jace considered a legal adult, while she wasn’t, when they were the exact same age? Maybe it had something to do with how many demon kills one had made?

“A girl ought to have new clothes now and then.”

Jace scoffed. “Yeah, we all know you’re obliged to say that.” He opened his mouth to continue the sentence, but his siblings interrupted before he could get another word out.

“ _Jace_!” snapped Alec and Izzy simultaneously, the former horrified, the latter annoyed. No one spoke after that, but Alec and Jace were making faces at each other, as though they were having some kind of secret conversation no one else was privy to. Probably thanks yet another classified function of their super-secret _parabatai_ bond that Clary wasn’t allowed to know about.

“Come on, let’s get out of here,” Izzy muttered into her ear, and Clary let herself be dragged away, because even now she couldn’t say no to the other girl. Her crush was rapidly dropping into the territory of hopeless adoration, and she couldn’t stop the inexorable downwards slide, not when there were bath salts sitting on her bathroom counter – accompanied by the lingering smell of Izzy’s perfume – after a long day of training, or when sometimes she’d open her bedroom door in the morning to a basket of muffins – bought, Izzy had solemnly promised her, not baked.

She wasn’t even sure if she _wanted_ to stop.

~*~*~*~*~

The streets of Alicante glittered like rivers of flowing crystal, set against a majestic backdrop of soaring towers, but what took her breath away was the way Izzy danced through the streets, her pony-tail swaying with every movement, chattering an excited stream of words Clary could barely hear over the pounding of her own heart.

There was a word for this, she knew. She was just having trouble admitting it to herself first.

~*~*~*~*~

“I’m in love with you and I’m terrified.”

They were alone in a beautiful glade, a rare occurrence – Jace or Alec seemed to be _everywhere_ , popping up like daffodils at the most inopportune times. Izzy was stretched out over the grass, looking happy and carefree and relaxed, and the confession slipped out from Clary’s mouth before she could censor herself.

At Clary’s words, Izzy opened her eyes and sat up, but her reply wasn’t anything like what Clary had expected – _hoped for_. “I’m really not supposed to talk to you about this.”

 _It wasn’t an outright rejection_ , Clary consoled herself. Out loud, she asked, “Talk about what?”

Izzy shook her head, looking frustrated. “Your legal guardian’s supposed to meet with mine first, it’s how it’s done –”

“– my Mom’s still in a coma,” interrupted Clary, and she couldn’t keep the bitterness out of her voice, “and your stupid rules say that Luke isn’t considered a proper guardian since he’s a werewolf, even if it’s Valentine’s fault he was bitten in the first place! _What_ are you talking about?”

For a wild moment, she wondered if Izzy was talking about marriage. What else required the presence of legal guardians?

_Don’t be silly, Fray._

Izzy sighed, dropping her head into her hands. “Don’t tell anyone I told you, okay?” She glanced around furtively, as though checking for eavesdroppers, and waited for Clary to nod before continuing. “Our legal guardians are supposed to meet with each other before we’re officially bonded as _parabatai_.”

“Huh?” said Clary eloquently.

Izzy made a face. “Right, you don’t know what that means – hm, to be _parabatai_ means… means to complete the other person, I suppose. To be one mind in two bodies. It’s like, well, like our souls are connected.”

Clary pinched herself. No, she wasn’t dreaming. Izzy was really talking about… some Shadowhunter version of marriage? A mystical _soulmate_ bond marriage? If she hadn’t been feeling this way for the past four months, Clary would have scoffed at the concept. But now – “How do you know we’re _parabatai_?”

“You can feel it, can’t you?” For the first time, Izzy looked a little unsure. “The instinctive way your eyes jump to the other person when they enter a room, the near-physical _need_ to be near the other person – it’s why Jace and Alec are always stuck on chaperone duty, to make sure we don’t do something we’re not supposed to before the official bonding ceremony.”

“Wait,” Clary repeated, a little incredulous. It sounded like – “you mean, all this while, it wasn’t a crush?” She shook her head, and another thought struck her, then. “Wait, then how does Alec-and-Magnus work? If he’s _parabatai_ with Jace?” Was polyamory or open marriage a _thing_ amongst Shadowhunters?

Jace and Alec were _soulmates_. She was still trying to wrap her head around this concept, not the least because they didn’t behave like any couple she’d ever seen.

Izzy stared blankly back at her. “It works because Alec’s attracted to Magnus?”

“And Jace is all right with that?”

Izzy continued to look confused. “Yeah, why wouldn’t he be?”

“So, he’s okay with Alec having sex with Magnus as well as with him?” Clary scratched her head. That didn’t fit with what she knew of Jace’s personality.

Izzy choked. “What? You think my brothers are –” she shook her head violently, sending dark curls cascading everywhere. “No, _parabatai_ are sacred because they can work together as a team to fight demons. They don’t have to be attracted to each other.”

“Oh.” Clary’s voice was small. So, even though she was going to end up Shadowhunter-married to Izzy, Izzy might never feel the same way about her. Still, she’d already confessed, as embarrassing as that was, and she would rather know the answer right now than spend the rest of her life wondering. “Are you attracted to me?”

The million dollar question.

“Yes,” breathed Izzy, and Clary was so dizzy with relief that she felt momentarily light-headed. “Which is why the moment your Mom wakes up, we’re going to get bonded. I don’t want to wait any longer to kiss you.”

**Author's Note:**

> World-building notes:  
> \- During puberty, the bonding centre in the visual cortex of the occipital lobe of a Nephilim's brain develops and becomes capable of hosting a bond.  
> \- The _parabatai_ bond forms upon seeing each other, which is why the Nephilim will host coming-of-age presentation balls for all children past puberty.  
>  \- The bond develops over time and is strengthened through proximity and strong emotions towards each other. The final "bonding ceremony" accelerates the bond formation process to full maturity in a matter of days.  
> \- When a bond has yet to fully mature, like in the case of Clary and Izzy, it's a taboo to speak of it. This custom comes from the fact that a developing bond is fragile and may be broken by force - whether by a jealous individual or a demon.  
> \- Only Nephilim experience this "soulmate" connection, which is why Clary mistook it for a crush, since all the symptoms are the same.  
> \- Having a _parabatai_ bond is the hallmark of a legal adult.
> 
> [I have a Tumblr if you're interested!](starriewolf.tumblr.com)


End file.
